The New Transformers' Robotic Dinos Aren't as Dumb as They Sound

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The New Transformers' Robotic Dinos Aren't as Dumb as They Sound

Daniel Krall

Word from Autobot Command Center is that the fourth movie in the Transformers cycle, Age of Extinction, will feature more than just giant alien robots that mimic modern human machines in an effort to blend unseen into our society. The film will also include giant alien robots that transform into dinosaurs. Cynics may argue that these Dinobot warriors are nothing but a blatant merchandising decision foisted upon unfortunate screenwriters (who, at some point, must have heard the phrase “If it doesn’t make any sense, then you make it make sense!”). Well, quiet down, cynics. As a toy-loving science-fiction novelist and former roboticist, I can throw down at least five reasons why Dinobots make perfect sense.

Biomimetics. Roboticists routinely study the biomechanics of natural organisms to create robots that will excel in similar situations. Eons of planetary dominance are proof enough that sauropods were well evolved for combat on a building size scale in an Earth environment (so the same gravity, atmospheric conditions, and light and sound and vibration ranges). Why shouldn’t the Transformers leverage 150 million years of evolution?

Truth in advertising. A basic tenet of the field of human-robot interaction is that the outward appearance of a robot should convey its true capabilities. From my experience, smarter robots tend to look like adult people, and not-so-bright robots look like children, animals, or better yet, baby animals. Dinobots are not very smart, and nothing conveys a serious case of the dumb dumbs like a metallic T. rex squinting its tiny eyes and frantically waving little baby arms. Locomotion. How is an Autobot supposed get to the battlefield when it can only transform into a sports car with a mere eight inches of ground clearance? Answer: Ride a magnificent Dinobot.

Locomotion. How is an Autobot supposed get to the battlefield when it can only transform into a sports car with a mere eight inches of ground clearance? Answer: Ride a magnificent Dinobot.

Fear factor. In the interstellar scheme of things, what is more fearsome than a long-extinct monster from a backwater planet like Earth? And before you sell our planet short, remember that even the Predator kept a human skull in his trophy case to impress his alien friends. Vogue. What will go out of style faster, a mighty dinosaur ... or a cassette tape from the 1980s? The tape-deck-shaped Decepticon called Soundwave can barely show his metal face anymore without ridicule. A fashion-minded Transformer should stick with a long term disguise—like Jurassic-era long term. Bonus reason! What if the Autobots just need to blend in unseen with a whole dang bunch of dinosaurs?

Vogue. What will go out of style faster, a mighty dinosaur or a cassette tape from the 1980s? The tape-deck-shaped Decepticon called Soundwave can barely show his metal face anymore without ridicule. A fashion-minded Transformer should stick with a long-term disguise—like Jurassic-era long-term.

Bonus reason! What if the Autobots just need to blend in unseen with a whole dang bunch of dinosaurs?

Daniel H. Wilson * (@danielwilsonPDX) earned a PhD in robotics from Carnegie Mellon. His novel* Robogenesis(a follow-up to the bestselling Robopocalypse*) will be released in June.*